Stivers prepares for Southern Legislative Conference in Lexington

FRANKFORT — Every year for the past seven decades lawmakers and other experts from the southern states have been gathering to talk legislation and policy initiatives at the state and local level, and this year Lexington, Kentucky will take center stage.

From July 9 through July 13 the Southern Legislative Conference will take over part of Lexington as Senate President Robert Stivers, who is the SLC chair, rolls out the red carpet for attendees.

Stivers, R-Manchester, sat down with Pure Politics to talk about the event and the two years of work that has been put into hosting the 70th annual conference. He said it’s the commonwealth’s time to shine and expects new relationships will be built to fuel the future.

“It’s in my opinion a nice coup for the state when you have 1,300 to 1,500 people coming to Lexington for a week,” he said. “We have a wonderful set of educational events as well as some social events in the evening that will showcase what this state is really about.”

Stivers said the event has been estimated to generate approximately a $5 million infusion into the local economy.

As the lawmakers, lobbyists, opinion leaders and others attend the conference they will hear about agriculture issues, transportation, correction and judicial reform issues.

There will also be technical tours for attendees at the Georgetown Toyota facility and tours of local distilleries. Corvette of Kentucky is also coming up from Bowling Green to show off their cars.

“It’s all about Kentucky, not just Lexington,” Stivers said.

Politics will also be discussed as well. Democratic commentator the Rajin’ Cajun, James Carville, will be back in the bluegrass with his wife and conservative Mary Matalin to talk to the group about presidential politics.

A host of potential policy positions will also be discussed, including the potential for southern states to send notice to the federal government their will to stand on Tenth Amendment.

“There’s potential for some Federalism discussions for that division and that natural conflict that’s set up by our federal Constitution and state Constitutions,” he said.

Watch for more of the policy talks that could come up at SLC in the interview below:

Nick Storm

Nick Storm is the Anchor and Managing Editor of Pure Politics available exclusively on Spectrum News. Pure Politics is the only nightly program dedicated to Kentucky politics. Nick covers all of the political heavyweights and his investigative work brings to light issues that might otherwise go unnoticed, like his coverage of the backlog of DNA rape kits waiting to be tested in Kentucky. Nick is also working on a feature length bio documentary Outlaw Poet: A documentary on Ron Whitehead. Pure Politics airs weeknight at 7 and 11:30 on Spectrum News. Follow Nick on Twitter @NStorm_Politics. Nick can be reached at 502-792-1107 or nicholas.storm@charter.com.